Good Night, and Good Luck.
Composite Score: 87.33
Starring: David Strathairn, George Clooney, Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Alex Borstein, Tate Donovan, Reed Diamond, Matt Ross, Robert Downey Jr., Ray Wise, and Frank Langella
Director: George Clooney
Writers: George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Genres: Biography, Drama, History
MPAA Rating: PG for mild thematic elements and brief language
Box Office: $54.64 million worldwide
My take on Watching This Film:
Good Night, and Good Luck. is George Clooney’s film about the conflict between journalist Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy during Red Scare McCarthyism related to McCarthy’s mistreatment of his position and bullying of those he accused of being Communist sympathizers during his time as a member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The film takes place almost entirely at CBS studios in the 1950s, starring David Strathairn as Murrow, Patricia Clarkson as Shirley Wershba a production assistant on Murrow’s show See It Now, George Clooney as Murrow’s co-producer Fred Friendly, Frank Langella as CEO of CBS William Paley, Robert Downey Jr. as CBS news correspondent Joseph Wershba, and Ray Wise as CBS journalist Don Hollenbeck. It examines the power of the press in standing up to government overreach and celebrates the ways that television and media can inform the public of the truth when it operates outside of the reach of the government, even in times of apparent “crisis” like McCarthy’s Red Scare. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Strathairn), and Best Original Screenplay and was celebrated as one of the best films of 2005 by many outlets. Arguably, the importance of the message and themes of Good Night, and Good Luck. has only increased in the twenty years since its release. We live in an era when we have a responsibility to ask our media – reporters, news stations, fellow denizens of the Internet, and everyone in between – to stand apart from government interference and report honestly on the goings-on. Unfortunately, in the past few months, we have seen a rush to capitulation from many of the most respected media outlets, dialing back their willingness to push the envelope or report on anything that could paint the current American administration in the light that it deserves to be painted in. Gone from mainstream media are the Edward R. Murrows of the world, and we’re left picking up the pieces on a disjointed collection of social media platforms that are increasingly beholden to the same administration to which the rest of the media has folded. Had CBS, Murrow, and company (and the many other brave people who stood up to McCarthy’s bully politics and blatant misuse of power) acted in the way of the modern reporters, we would certainly have lost the Cold War and be living in a nation no longer united in any aspect. This isn’t to say that there aren’t those who have been bold enough to stand up to the current administration – both elected and illegitimate, wealthy pretenders with no claim to American citizenship, let alone a position in the government – but the general public has done little to elevate those voices, and in the coming years, it will be up to us to seek them out and champion them in the face of yet another increase in government overreach and borderline fascism. I recognize that this is more of an essay on the state of modern media than it is a review of the film, but these are the thoughts that have been swirling in my head since watching it. If any of this has resonated with you, I’d encourage you to watch the film for yourself and then go and do likewise, sharing your own thoughts and seeking out the bold media that’s willing to question and condemn actions that it views as such. Currently, this film is available to rent on most streaming platforms if you’d like to do that.
